Transcript for Man Sues After Being Accidentally Locked in Jail for 31 Hours

We turn now to the strange story of a man visiting his son in jail only to become a prisoner himself. A door locked behind him trapping him for more than a day now suing the prison. ABC's Alex Perez has the story. Reporter: This morning a visitor who says he inadvertently became a prisoner inside the jail for nearly 32 hours is speaking out. Farad Polk was visiting his son in the cook county jail July 5th when according to Polk guards told him to have a seat in a waiting area down the hall. When he entered the room, the heavy steel doors slammed behind him. He was locked in an 8x8 room for over 30 hours and made to sit in that room without any food, any water, no toiletries, no bedding. Reporter: For nearly a day and a half he said he tried desperately to get anyone's attention, screaming, even pounding on the room's two-feet-thick concrete walls but no luck. He says it wasn't until he broke the head off one of the sprinklers flooding the room that the fire department arrived and found him. This morning Polk is filing a lawsuit against cook county alleging negligence. Cook county jail telling ABC news overnight this was an extraordinarily unique set of circumstances that unfortunately resulted in him being in that room for that period of time. Polk says the experience was so traumatizing he hasn't been able to visit his son. For "Good morning America," Alex Perez, ABC news, Chicago.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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